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The past month without him had been difficult. Before she had always wondered if he was going to show up in her life again, but now she knew that he wasn't going to be around. He wasn't going to find her. She felt like a huge hole was left in the center of her chest that he used to occupy. Sure she had been strong when dismissing him, but the reality of letting him go was a much different story.
Now she was faced with the reality that she needed to move on, and Ramsey was the perfect suspect. He knew some of her prior escapades with his future brother-in-law, but not enough to keep him from her as he had proven by agreeing to this rendezvous in New York. And just because he wasn't Jack didn't mean he wasn't exactly what she needed.
Lexi sighed and tried to stop her mind from wandering all over the place. She needed to stay in the moment or else the past would begin to take her over. And living in the present meant finding out where exactly her faux boyfriend was at that moment in time.
"I'm actually not certain," Lexi said pulling her phone out from the tiny black clutch she was carrying with her. "Have you seen your faux girlfriend yet?"
"Yeah she found me right when I got here, but said she needed to take care of some things," Adam said vaguely, "but that she'd find me later."
"Well this is going to be a fun night," she murmured flipping open her phone and seeing no new calls or texts. She knew his flight had been delayed in Atlanta due to weather conditions, but she hadn't heard from him since then and had assumed everything was alright. She figured she would have at least heard from him by now.
"Looks like it's just me and you," Lexi said downing the rest of her wine in one big gulp.
"Where's your date?" Adam asked concern in his eyes at her abrupt change in mood.
"His flight was delayed so I'm guessing he's stuck somewhere," she told him trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
"He'll turn up," Adam said placing his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Lexi smiled up into his brown eyes and reminded herself that he was Chyna's date. That thought made her smile grow even more. She couldn't believe what a strange situation they were in. Here she thought that she was the only one capable of getting them into uncomfortable scenarios, but Chyna had managed to force them into another, just as awkward, state of affairs.
"Well isn't this sweet," Chyna cooed coming up from behind them and eyeing them up and down. Adam immediately dropped his hand to his side glancing away from Lexi's determined gaze.
"There you are," he said a genuine smile crossing his face. "Get everything taken care of?"
"As much as could be done about this situation," Chyna announced slurring her words slightly. She took a step forward to steady herself but managed to almost fall into Adam. He caught her easily and steadied her against him.
"Are you drunk?" Lexi asked glancing around to make sure no one was paying them any attention.
"I just had a bottle of wine. It's no big deal," Chyna said falling into a fit of giggles.
"Fuck," Lexi cursed under her breath wondering how they were going to be able to handle this catastrophe when Chyna could barely even stand up straight.
"I'll just take this," Adam said snatching the glass of wine out of her hand and handing it off to a passing waiter. Chyna stuck her bottom lip out and leaned her head back against his shoulder.
"Oh stop pouting," Lexi grumbled unsure of how to continue.
"I'm not that drunk," Chyna said standing tall and smiling brightly. If Lexi didn't know her so well, she wouldn't have thought her drunk. She could pass as having just had a glass of wine, but knowing the kind of impression she needed to make tonight made Lexi nervous. Chyna's eyes were glassy and she was a bit wobbly on her feet. She was sure her father would notice when they finally ran into each other.
"Let's just hope your dad doesn't notice."
"Oh f**k him," she muttered, "him and his new trophy wife."
"Chyna shut up," Lexi hissed latching onto her arm and pulling her and Adam away from any potential eavesdroppers. "Now you know what's on the line. So pull it together," Lexi snapped at her.
She had forced Lexi to be in this position in the first place. There was no way she was going to let her blow everything after what they had gone through to get here and with the fake boyfriends her father had requested. It was one night, and they were capable of doing this. Lexi knew Chyna was hurting at that moment, but she couldn't jeopardize her future out of self-pity. Her family wasn't perfect and it never would be. It was a sad tale, but right now was not the time to tell it. She needed to show the world that Chyna Van der Wal held her head high under all circumstances…even when she was breaking inside.
"You're right. Sorry," Chyna mumbled covering her eyes with one hand. She inhaled deeply shaking her head side to side. "It's just so hard."
"I know sweetie, but it's just one night," Lexi reminded her. "Then hopefully you won't ever have to do anything like this again."
Chyna heaved her chest up and down once then glanced into Lexi's comforting gaze. Her eyes were rimmed with unshed tears. "No, I'm sure I'll be forced into similar situations for the rest of eternity. I'm being punished for living on my own and not needing him, when he was the one who kicked me out." Chyna's features hardened at the admission and she raised her chin. "Well I still don't need him. So let's get this over with."
At that moment, a bell dinged somewhere in the ballroom. The guests took that as their cue and began shuffling to their assigned seats. Lexi followed Chyna and Adam to their assigned table close to the center of the room. She stared wistfully at the empty seat next to her before sitting. She quickly checked her phone one more time to see if there was any update, but without any luck.
Another bell dinged and the room began to fall silent. Lexi looked at Chyna in disbelief. Had this been planned? Did people just naturally fall silent when a bell dinged? Had she somehow missed that memo? Chyna just rolled her eyes in response.
As dramatic as Lexi could have imagined, Chyna's father walked into the room through the grand double doors with his future bride at his side. Lexi had to admit, the woman was beautiful. She was only a few inches shorter than Richard with long, flowing, blonde hair that could have been in commercials. The princess cut dress showed up off her large chest and teeny tiny waistline. Her bright blue eyes were evident all the way across the room…as was the massive diamond twinkling on her left hand.
